Blood Test For Early-Stage Pancreatic Cancer Performed Well In Preliminary Studies, Researchers Find

MedPage Today (2/12, Bankhead) reports, “A blood test for early-stage pancreatic cancer performed well in preliminary studies involving samples from patients with known diagnostic status.” In the “blinded retrospective study, the test achieved 98% specificity and 73% sensitivity across all stages of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).” Investigators found that “the test demonstrated 100% accuracy for distinguishing PDAC from non-cancer pancreatic conditions. Combining the test with assessment of the CA 19-9 cancer biomarker increased the sensitivity to 85% with a specificity of 96%.” The findings were published in Science Translational Medicine.